Early foul trouble in the biggest game of the season would spell serious trouble for just about every team.

Fortunately for the Spring-Ford girls basketball team, you don’t get to the state final without a little depth.

So even with senior Sarah Payonk and junior Shelby Mueller sent to the sideline with early foul trouble in the first half there was no need for alarm.

Sophomore Maggie Locke was more than happy to answer the call.

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Locke came off the bench to score seven points – including the crucial buzzer-beating 3 right before the half to give Spring-Ford a 27-25 lead – and also pull down seven rebounds.

Such depth spells success for a state-caliber team like the Rams. And the Spring-Ford basketball program gets another two years of Locke.

And she’s far from the only returning player to come back next season and go for it again as reigning state champions – leading scorer Sammy Stipa and Mueller will be back.

Stipa, who starred in Tuesday’s semifinal win over Cardinal O’Hara and shared team-high honors in the final with 11 points, and Mueller, who was equally important in the semifinal win with her 15 rebounds, led the Rams offensive output most of their momentous run to the state championship.

Along with sophomore Julia Roshelli, who saw playing time throughout the season, Spring-Ford has the makings of a program set up to continue its way as an annual PIAA contender.

While replacing the senior class of Payonk, Courtney Hinnant, Brittany Moore, Sammi Haas and Kirsten Landis won’t be easy, last year’s senior class for the state semifinal team wasn’t easily replaced.

“When you lose people like Mariah (Traywick), Nikki (Lynch) and Jaida (Burgess), when you lose seniors like that as we did from last year’s team, you may lose that chemistry,” Rams head coach Jeff Rinehimer said. “So doing this, winning the state title, was a credit to these girls. They came every day to play basketball and kept everything in perspective.”

Next year?

“Who knows,” Rinehimer added. “This is so difficult to do, so it’s a tribute to our girls.”

* * *

Spring-Ford’s scheduled absolutely rivaled most if not all in the state this season.

The Rams lost their opener, 58-56, to Notre Dame Academy in the Blue Chip Tip-Off, then won eight in a row. Included in that early stretch were three straight in Florida, one such win over PIAA semifinalist Chartiers Valley, good enough to win the KSA Holiday Classic.

But no sooner did they return from the pre-Christmas trip south, they were up in New York and getting thumped by St. Anthony’s, 52-39, on Jan. 5.

It would be their last loss of the season.

“We had such a tough schedule, and we had some concerns,” Rinehimer said. “At one point (after the loss in N.Y.), we were 8-2, so were wondering did we bite off too much or were those (two) teams that good?”

Notre Dame Academy and St. Anthony’s were indeed good.

But so were a few others - like Mount St. Joseph, Wilson (West Lawn), Seton Keough (Md.), and Ossining (N.Y.), the latter of which got humbled by the Rams (81-65) before recently winning a state title of its own.

“I think that win against Ossining really gave our girls a lot of confidence,” Rinehimer said. “Hey, we’ve seen some of the best teams there are.”

Cumberland Valley got an up-close look at one of the best Friday night, too … at least an up-close look at the PIAA Class AAAA champions.

“This is just really exciting,” said 5-foot-11 senior starter Sarah Payonk. “To go out with four (tournament) championships this year alone. … We won the KSA in Florida, the PAC-10 and District 1 championships, and now states ... our goal was to win all four, and it feels good knowing we won all four.”

About the Author

Austin Hertzog is the Sports Editor of The Mercury. An Ephrata High School and University of Pittsburgh graduate, he is in his eighth year at The Mercury. He is a newlywed and an avid tennis player. Reach the author at ahertzog@pottsmerc.com
or follow Austin on Twitter: @AustinHertzog.